Are bhakti activities transcendental to the modes or are we to engage activities in the modes in bhakti?

Answer Podcast

So, are the activities of bhakti transcended to three modes or are we to engage the activities of three modes in the process of bhakti? Yeah, bhakti itself, the principle of the soul offering its love to Krishna, that is transcendental.
The soul is transcendental, Krishna is transcendental and the soul offers its love to Krishna, that is transcendental. But the soul is going to offer love in this world and when it is going to offer love in this world, it is going to offer through a particular channel and that channel is the body and the body and the mind. So, the way a Kshatriya will offer one’s love to Krishna, the way a Brahmana will offer love, one’s love to Krishna, that’s different.
And what is that difference caused by? The difference is caused by the modes. So, in principle, bhakti is transcendental. In practice, anything in this material world is to be done through the material nature.
So, we transcend the modes by surrendering to Krishna. That means that we don’t remain controlled by the modes. But that doesn’t mean that we have nothing to do with the modes.
Rather, we learn how to direct the modes towards Krishna. Whatever modes are there influencing me, rather than those modes dragging me away from Krishna, I learn how to channel those modes in Krishna’s service. And over a period of time, as we keep practicing bhakti, even the same activity that we are doing, we will do it in a more sattvic way.
So, for example, if I want to do book distribution, I can say, distributing books, distributing Bhagavad Gita, that is transcendental. Yes, but sometimes I may do it in a tamasic way. You know how tamasic? In some of the early days, when the devotees had a lot of competition for book distribution, there were three bus parties.
So, this bus party wanted to be number one. So, what they would do is, they would go in the morning and puncture that bus of the other, or tyre of the other bus. So, then they would have to repair the bus and say, I will go and distribute more books.
This is tamasic. So, they are serving Krishna, but they are doing it more through the mode of ignorance. On the other hand, the same activity can be done in a sattvic way.
Sometimes, if we are doing book distribution, I just run out early in the morning and then, I forgot the books, just bag only. I run back inside. So, we are running around doing these, but there is, we are not thinking really, really clearly.
The same activity can be done in a more sattvic way. We think, we plan, we organize and we do things. So, the way we function will change as we become more elevated, as our consciousness becomes more elevated.
And the activity itself may be in a particular mode. You can say fundraising is a vaishya activity. It is a passionate activity.
But then, that same activity can be done in different ways. A passionate activity can be done with also a greater proportion of goodness and can be done with a far lesser proportion of goodness. So, the overall process of bhakti involves the intention of serving Krishna, which is transcendental.
As far as the execution is concerned, that will be according to our body-mind. Did that answer your question? Yes, that’s what I mean.